Photo: Alex Zarek
Domenic Dunegan of The Ghost Club
In 2016, Domenic Dunegan went to a Bruce Springsteen concert with his father and left that show changed. By 2018, he had formed the Pittsburgh-based band
The Ghost Club, and the act has quickly amassed a social media following and high streaming numbers across platforms like YouTube and
Spotify.
"I had no real aspirations of much of anything and I left the concert just completely changed," says Dunegan. "From that moment, I just wanted to learn how to be a musician and thankfully we have the internet, so I was able to look up 'How do you play this? How do you record and produce?' And it's been one stepping stone after another, just get to where I am now."
Now The Ghost Club, which consists of Dunegan on vocals and piano, Logan Casper on bass, Zack Leya on guitar, and Stephen Kraus on drums, will make their live debut at the Thunderbird Café & Music Hall.
Earlier this year,
Pittsburgh City Paper did a
Song Spotlight on The Ghost Club's song "All I Know," which featured an animated video, catchy lyrics, and a pop-y melody. In the band's early days, they drew comparisons to Panic! at the Disco and fans saw a likeness between Dunegan and the lead singer Brendan Urie.
"it was kind of funny at first, and obviously, I kind of went with it just because if you can have anything to set you aside or get attention from, you obviously want to capitalize on that. Now it's kind of an afterthought just because I've moved in a way different direction and made that work for myself," says Dunegan. "You've got to start somewhere, and I mean, a lot of artists get compared to other people, like when Aerosmith was around, they were called basically a knock-off of the Rolling Stones, and The Rolling Stones were a knockoff of The Beatles, and The Beatles were a knockoff of Elvis. So you're never going to beat comparisons."
After spending the last three years really developing their sound and creating a fan base, they are ready to hit the stage.
Ahead of the show, Dunegan says the band is in a bit of disbelief.
"I mean, we've been working so hard through COVID, rehearsing all of this and we've dotted every, I crossed every T to make sure every single thing we do works," he says.
Tickets for this event are still available and can be purchased at
Thunderbird Music Hall's website.
The Ghost Club with Kahone Concept and Caleb Kopta.
8 p.m. Doors at 7 p.m. Sat., Dec. 4. Thunderbird Café & Music Hall. 4053 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $15. thunderbirdmusichall.com